Rules for car rental businesses

Rules for car rental businesses

If you rent or lease vehicles to customers you must obey the Australian Consumer Law
(ACL). You need to know the rules when designing your:

 advertising
 business management practices.

You can not:

 mislead or deceive
 make false or misleading representations
 bait advertise
 use unfair contract terms
 accept payment without intending to supply
 behave unconscionably.

Advertising

You need to make sure that your advertising and marketing techniques do not mislead
or deceive.

You should always:

 think about your audience

 use plain English
 clearly state all key terms of the agreement
 make sure rental contract terms or qualification are not only in fine print.

Advertising mistakes often made by rental car businesses include:

 using disclaimers and fine print in advertising

 bait advertising
 component pricing.

Disclaimers and fine print

You may use daily rates to attract customers with price.

However, you must clearly state terms and conditions associated with getting the daily
rate.

If you use fine print, make sure:

 an asterisk or some other symbol or descriptor is used to refer consumers to the conditions
 the fine print does not alter the impression created in the more prominent advertising
 You must make the important facts of the advertisement (the real terms and conditions):

 clear
 readable.

If you are not clear, you might:

 mislead consumers
 breach the ACL and be fined.

For example

It could be misleading if you:

 advertise a daily rate for a car of $44/day*

 do not state there is a minimum hire period of seven days for this rate.

You can learn more about misleading and deceptive conduct and false or misleading
representations.

Bait advertising

If you offer a vehicle at a discounted rate, customers must have a reasonable chance of
taking up the offer.

You must make it clear in the advertisement, if:

 there is a limited number of the advertised vehicle available

 the sale is for a limited period of time.

For example

It could be bait advertising if you:

 advertise a discount rate of $38/day

 only have one vehicle available for hire
 know that you are likely to get multiple enquiries about the discounted rate.

Pricing

Where you give part of the price of your service, you must also give a single total price
at least as prominently. The single price must be the minimum cost to the customer as
you calculate it at the time of advertising.

If a component cost can not be calculated because it will vary between customers, you
should explain:

 the way the amount will be calculated

 the minimum cost.
 Remember, when advertising your service, that:

 all compulsory component costs must be included in the advertised single price
 any optional changes excluded from this total must be truly optional
 the price shown for any optional extra must include all relevant components for which the
consumer will be charged.

For example

You advertise a vehicle hire rate of $45/day, but every customer must pay a pick-up fee.
You must either:

 include this extra amount in the total, or

 display it as prominently as you display the $45/day rate.

If you do not communicate a required fee, you could be misleading consumers.

You can learn more about component pricing.

Accepting payment

You cannot accept payment for goods or services if you:

 do not intend to supply them

 intend to supply materially different goods or services.

Contracts

We recommend that in your contracts, you:

 use plain English, not legal jargon

 have clauses that are upfront and easy to understand
 make sure you do not include any unfair contract terms
 make sure your sales staff point out to customers the important contract terms and conditions
 put your contract terms and conditions on your website. This gives customers a chance to read
them before they sign.

You can learn more about unfair contract terms.

Damages

Make sure customers know about their potential liability for damage to the vehicle. This
includes:

 explaining damage liability to customers

 telling them about any gaps in coverage
 the length of time after the rental that the damage costs can be charged
 that their credit card may be debited for the cost of any repairs to the vehicle

Make sure that your pre- and post-rental inspection procedures:

 are clearly explained
 customers can see them.

Dealing with customers

Some customers may be considered more vulnerable than others. You should be
particularly conscious when you deal with customers:

 who are disabled in some way

 age, health or social situation
 who may have difficulty understanding your advertising or contract terms and conditions
 with limited vehicle hire alternatives (for example, remote location or other disadvantage)
 who do not speak or read English as their first language.

When dealing with customers, make sure:

 you give full and frank disclosure

 they understand the contracts and any other documents you give them
 you and your staff avoid high pressure sales tactics
 your staff are trained and aware
 you have consistent messages in all areas of your business (includes your website, advertising,
call centre and car rental contracts)
 your service is carried out with due care and skill
 the vehicle is suitable to the customers needs and is fit for the purpose
 the fleet vehicles are in good condition.

Think about your after sales service:

 be open and accessible to your customers

 have an effective complaints handling system
 tell your customers about your complaint handling process
 be willing to negotiate with your customers.

Car Rental Service

Sample Rule Definition
Rules

Rule 1: A 3-dollar-per-mile fee will be charged for any additional miles.

Rule 2 : If the car reservation is daily, then the charge for a mile is 3 dollars.
Rule 3 : If the car reservation is weekly, then the charge for a mile is 2.5 dollars.
Rule 4 : If the car reservation is unlimited, then the charge for a mile is 2 dollars.
Facts

There are two facts - Reservation and Charge.

The design of this Database has been created by following our General Approach.

Details: The main focus of the business is renting cars and vans, and the database is to
manage the booking system.
1) Vehicles are categorized into small cars (suitable for carrying up to 4 people), family cars
(suitable for carrying up to 7 adults), and vans.
2) Information stored for each booking includes customer, car, date of hire and date on
which the vehicle is to be returned.
3) A customer cannot hire a car for longer than a week.
4) If a vehicle is available, the customer's details are recorded (if not stored already) and a
new booking is made.
5) Potential or existing customers can book a vehicle up to 7 days in advance depending on
availability.
6) Customers must pay for the vehicle at the time of hire.
7) On receiving an enquiry, employees are required to check availability of cars and vans.
8) An invoice is written at the time of booking for the customer.
9) If the booking has been made in advance, a confirmation letter will be sent to the
customer.
10) A report is printed at the start of each day showing the bookings for that particular day.

A. What are the Things of Interest ?

A.1 Bookings
A.2 Cars
A.3 Confirmation Letters
A.4 Customers
A.5 Invoices
A.6 Payments
A.7 Vans
A.8 Vehicles

B. How are the Things of Interest related ?

B.1 A Booking is for one Vehicle and one Customer.
B.2 A Customer can be associated with one or many Vehicles.
B.3 A customer cannot hire a car for longer than a week.
B.4 A Customer can receive one or many Invoices.
B.5 A Vehicle can be a Car or a Van.
B.6 An Invoice is for one and only one Customer.

C. What are the characteristics of the Things of Interest ?

C.1 Customer details include name,address, gender telephone number.
C.2 Each booking includes customer, car, date of hire and
date on which the vehicle is to be returned.
CAR RENTALS & TRANSFERS

ANMsoft’s Car Rental & Car Transfer Management System is a web-based vehicle
reservation system. The system is configurable as per the client’s unique business
requirement and meets the standard of OTA(Open Travel Alliance). Compliance with
standards ensures seamless integration of any third party system with our Car Rental &
Car Transfer Management System.
Front- End (Customer Website or Agency’s portal), Admin/Back- End Management
Interface & Order Management System are three main modules of the system. This
system has expandable modular architecture, making it scalable & fully customizable.
The system accepts online reservations and makes managing car rental booking easier
from a single control panel of Order Management System. The administrator panel of
our car rental management software provides complete control of the commission rate,
roles & security based users access, suppliers management, private inventory upload &
management. Checking vehicle availability, making online reservations, and generating
quotations are done on real-time basis & possible with just few clicks. The bookings are
entered in the system database automatically and instant confirmation will be sent to
your customers/ Agency.